


Lost & Found

by Anothershadow24



Series: The Genius and The Hawk [4]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Afghanistan, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Italian Tony Stark, M/M, Married Couple, Phil Coulson Is a Good Bro, SHIELD Agent Clint Barton
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:08:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29986095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anothershadow24/pseuds/Anothershadow24
Summary: Clint comes back from a mission only to find out that his husband is missing.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Tony Stark
Series: The Genius and The Hawk [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2153265
Comments: 3
Kudos: 33





	Lost & Found

_ Breathe... Aim... Shoot. _

It was that easy. 

After three weeks of tracking his target, Clint had eliminated the threat and was able to return home.

And how he missed his home.

Waking up every morning to see Tony's big brown eyes looking at him with a smile, joke with him while they prepare breakfast, watch him work in his workshop, watch him treat his robots like children, watch him on television and know that that fake smile transforms in a real one the moment she comes back and lies down next to him.

Yeah, he needed to get back as quickly as possible.

Stepping off the roof of the building he was perched on, Clint called Coulson from his burner phone.

"Hello?"

"Code name: Hawkeye. Clearance level: 5. Identification: 5471CC9286."

"Mission status?"

"Complete."

"Good work, Agent Barton. Now all you need to do is go home," Coulson said, sounding strangely tense.

"Is everything okay? I was about to go to headquarters for the mission debrief," he said, frowning.

"No. Change of plans. The mission report will be in writing. I will be waiting for you at the mansion," and with that I ended the call.

_ Weird. _

Hey, all the better for him. He could go straight into the arms of her husband without detours.

When he got home, he parked the bike in the garage, grabbed his backpack and ran eagerly inside. He could hardly contain the anxiety of seeing Tony after two weeks apart.

Since they were married, this was the first time they had spent so much time away from each other and Clint at this point was almost crawling up the walls.

"Honey, I'm home!" he yelled as he dropped his backpack in a corner. "Tony? You there?"

The sound of footsteps made him look toward the kitchen door and see Phil walking into the living room.

"Hi, boss. I didn't know you were here already. Where is Tony?"

He sighed, "Clint, I need you to sit down."

"We can do the report later," he said rolling his eyes. "What I need is to see my husband. He's in a meeting, isn't he? It's nothing weird. Especially after that weapons demonstration he had to go to in Afghanistan. He must be going crazy with the paperwork," he finished with a chuckle.

"Agent Barton, sit down. It's an order."  Coulson's tone of voice was enough to make him automatically take a seat on the couch.

Clint saw the agent hesitate and move nervously looking everywhere but at him. "Just spit it out."

"Uh- Well, it's about Tony."

Color escaped his face and fear flooded him. "Wha- What about him? Where is he? Is he okay?"

"JARVIS, can you please tell Clint?" Phil asked, closing his eyes and rubbing his temple.

"Mr. Barton, after the weapons demonstration the convoy was attacked. Most of the soldiers were killed and sir was taken. I am really sorry."

Clint felt his world fall apart. His heart was beating at miles per hour and he was having trouble breathing.

"Clint. Clint, listen to me. Focus on my voice, okay? Just focus on my voice," Coulson's hand on his chest grounded him a bit.

With watery eyes and trying to calm his breathing, he said, "Please tell me this is a joke. Please. Tell me that Tony is going to walk through that door right now and he is going to chastise me for taking so long on the mission."

"I'm sorry, Clint."

Keeping all the pain and fear in a compartment deep in his mind, the archer wiped away his tears and looked at Coulson with determination. "Tell me  everything you know about his capture."

"There are search teams in the mountains since that day, they haven’t found a single sign of life in the entire desert."

"I want to be part of one of the teams."

"No, you're too close to the situation. You can't."

"I don't fucking care! They took my husband! What am I supposed to do, Phil? Sit here waiting for news? I don't fucking think so."

He looked at him with pity, "I know your instinct is telling you to go and look under every single rock in that desert, but I’m not gonna let you. Not now. At least wait two weeks. If they find Tony he won’t be happy to know that you dove headlong into his searching and destroyed yourself while at it."

"I hate it when you make sense," Clint said rubbing his face with his hands.

The panic was still latent in his chest and the tears still wanted to escape his eyes, but he was not going to break. At least not until he was alone.

"I know," they were silent for a few seconds. "Are you going to be okay? Do you need me to stay?"

"No, it's fine. I can take care of myself."

Coulson looked at him doubtfully but nodded anyway. "Very well. I'm going to HQ, when you manage to fill out that report, send it to me."

"Yes, sir" Clint said, staring blankly at a wall. "See you in two weeks. Any update you have let me know. I don't care if it's three in the fucking morning. You call me."

The agent gave him a short nod and headed for the door. Before leaving, he turned around and, showing concern in his usual neutral expression, said, "We're going to find him, Clint. It's Tony Stark. I could bet my life that at this point he already has at least four escape plans."

When the front door closed, Clint collapsed on the couch. "JARVIS, please do your best to look for any sign of Tony."

"I am already on it, sir."

That put him a bit at ease. He released a ragged breath and shook his head to snap out of the trance he was about to fall into.

Everything was going to be okay, right?

Tony was going to be found and everything was going to be fine.

He could do this. 

He could be in the house without missions while knowing that his husband had been kidnapped. He could get on with his life normally. He was an agent, goddammit. He was trained to carry out the mission regardless of the circumstances. 

He could do this.

…

……

………

He could not do this. 

He spent the first three days doing nothing more than watching the news and sending Coulson hundreds of messages asking for updates. The nights were eternal, with thousands of terrible scenarios where Tony died in different ways filling his mind before falling asleep. He always ended up waking up agitated and sweating from a nightmare.

On the fourth day, Clint practically ran to SHIELD headquarters looking for something to distract himself with.

After a month of light-level missions, the archer no longer knew what to do with himself. That was until Obadiah Stane declared Tony dead at a press conference.

It was like a kick in the gut. That fear that had been permanently installed in his heart began to grow, but he refused to accept reality. Until he saw the body of his husband he was not going to lose hope **.**

Another month passed by and Clint got tired of waiting for some incompetent to get information, so he set about looking for Tony on his own. He used all  his contacts around the country and all the means that he had available - legal and not so legal. Until one day, someone passed him a tip about a terrorist group called The Ten Rings.

Knowing that he alone could not deal with a group of that size, and that he also didn’t even know if they were responsible for Tony's disappearance, Clint gave the information to Rhodey, who was one of the few who were still in search of the billionaire.

It was a week later that he was able to return home from his self-ordered mission. He was exhausted, hungry and even walking was difficult for him. He was almost certain that he hadn't slept in thirty-seven hours.

"Hey, JARVIS. Did you miss me?" he asked him as he shuffled into the kitchen and tried to keep his eyes open.

"Very much, sir."

"Good, because I missed you too. Now, I'm going to make myself a sandwich and go straight to bed," he opened the refrigerator taking out what was necessary and continued saying, "I don't even care that I smell like a pig, I have no energy. Not even to shower and I'm pretty sure that if I try to take a bath I run the risk of drowning."

A familiar voice responded making him jump and drop the knife in fright. "Oh no. We can't have that. I prefer you alive and breathing."

Tony Stark was leaning against the door frame and looking at him with a small smile.

"Fantastic. I finally lost it. This is great. Honestly, I thought it was going to happen a lot sooner. This is awesome, it means I'm not as unstable as I thought," he said sitting down on a stool and resting his head on the island.

"Clint, honey, what are you talking about?"

"Ugh, I thought hallucinations only spoke when you were looking at them. Now you're going to tell me I have to hear him in my head too? Fine. It's not like I haven't been listening to him drilling my brain for the last three months."

"Okay, wow. Do you really think I'm a hallucination?  _ Tesoro _ , I expected more from you. I thought after not seeing each other for so long I was going to at least get a welcome kiss."

With inhuman swiftness, Clin raised his head to see the supposed hallucination.

Tony looked exhausted. He had bruises on his face, one arm in a sling, and he appeared to be thinner and more fragile than normal. Also, there was a  strange circle of light peeking through the shirt on his chest. 

This couldn't be part of his imagination, Clint wasn't  _ that  _ creative.

"Tony?" he asked, trembling.

With a smile, he replied, " _ Ciao amore mio _ ."

Letting out a sob, he found himself running towards his husband and hugging him with all his strength. He clung to Tony like his life depended on it and  cried on his shoulder. "I thought I had lost you. Everyone told me to give up, but I couldn't. I was hopeful but for a moment I thought-"

"Shh, I'm here,  _ tesoro _ . I'm home. I'm so sorry you had to go through this."

Clint let out a soft chuckle against Tony's neck. "I'm the one that’s supposed to say that to you. You’re the one who was kidnapped."

"Hey, we are not known for following rules."

Pulling away a few inches from the genius so that he could look into his eyes, he said, "Don't ever, ever, ever do this to me again. I don't know if I can handle spending so much time not knowing if you're alive or if your body is going to be brought back to me in a bag again. "

Tony rested his forehead on his and with his eyes closed said, "I missed you so much. You are the reason why I survived so long in that place. Every time I opened my eyes I thought about coming home and seeing your beautiful eyes again. That's what gave me the strength to keep fighting. It was you Clint. It’s always you. "

Caressing his cheek, Clint cut the distance between them to give him a sweet kiss, full of emotion, despair and wet with tears. It wasn’t the best kiss they had, not by far, but it made them both laugh. Both feeling like that weight that had been accompanying them for so long was finally lifted.

That night, with Tony hugging him like an octopus and using his chest as a pillow, the archer breathed again.

**Author's Note:**

> Ciao amore mio = Hello, my love


End file.
